VAKIFLAR MUSEUM ANKARA

Photo by Aykut Fırat

90HALI ISSUE 151

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1East (?) Anatolian/Azerbaijan village rug fragment, before 1800. With many features that link it to 19th century Transcaucasian weaving, but as many others thatsuggest an Anatolian source. Vakıflar Museum, Ankara 2Çanakkale ‘Ghirlandaio’ design village rug, west Anatolia, late 18th/ early 19th century. 1.17 x 1.68m (3'10" x 5'6"). See TurkishHandwoven Carpets 2, 1988, pattern code 0186, Vakıflar Museum, Ankara, 26.06.218 3Kozak region village rug, west Anatolia, early 19th century. Note the unusual border system which uses no guard stripes Vakıflar Museum, Ankara
VAKIFLAR MUSEUM ANKARA

strong foundations

The combination of The Turkish Republic’s European agenda, the scheduling of the XIth ICOC in Istanbul, and inspired leadership of the Vakıflar Directorate in Ankara have resulted in the realisation of a long-held goal: the reopening, in proper quarters, of Istanbul’s Vakıflar Carpet and Kilim Museums, and the foundation, in stages, of a nationwide network of regional Vakıflar museums. Anthony Hazledinereports.

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Photo by Aykut Fırat

THERE IS,AT THE MOMENT, a lot of talk, and quite rightly so, about the fantastic work being done to resurrect the Vakıflar Carpet and Kilim Museums in Istanbul under the directorship Dr Adnan Ertem (see HALI 150, pp.52-3). The construction of a special washing facility and the creation of conservation workshops in the old Vakıflar Kilim Museum beneath the Sultan’s pavilion of the Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet has proceeded in tandem with the renovation of a historic building within the nearby Aya Sophia complex that will house and display the collection. Its opening, timed to coincide with the XIth International Conference on Oriental Carpets (ICOC) this April, is eagerly anticipated, but the Istanbul museums are in fact just the tip of the iceberg.

The Istanbul opening is the first of a series of new Vakıflar regional museums due to open across Turkey within the next year or so. In addition to the two in Istanbul, which are unique in being devoted to pile carpets and kilims, ten other new museums are due to open in, among other centres, Ankara, Konya, Sivas, Tokat, Edirne, Gaziantep and Kastanmonu. This huge project is being quietly and efficiently managed from the Ankara headquarters of the Vakıflar Directorate under the inspired guidance of Director-General Yusuf Beyazıt. The Vakıflar collections are justifiably renowned for their large and important holdings of early and antique Turkish carpets and kilims, gathered from mosques and tombs the length

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